My Personal Angel
by Mainara Altia
Summary: When sixteen year old R.J. gets sucked into a fictional world after falling down a flight of stairs and meets the characters of her most beloved book series, she must make the choice between her old life and the opportunity of the new one set before her. * Adopted from Masquerade72 *
1. Chapter 1

Heartbreak. That is the emotion that courses through me as I read the newest installment of my favorite book series, Maximum Ride. Ever sense the first book was published I've been hooked. Some will probably make fun of me for saying this, but when I read those books it almost feels as though I'm a part of the story rather than reading it. Through the course of these books I've laughed until I was red in the face, cried until my eyes were the same color, and became so angry that I saw the book through a crimson haze.

Red, it always seemed to find a way into my life whether I wanted it to or not. It's the color of my blush when I'm embarrassed, angry, or pretty much every other emotion, it's also the color my skin is just before it turns purple after my stepdad hits me. My real father was never a part of my life; he died shortly after they married, before my mother even knew that she was pregnant. A tragic accident on the oil rig where he worked snuffed out his life like a flickering candle blown out by a breeze. A few years later my mom met Todd Barker at a club in the city where he worked as a bartender. Six months later she was Mrs. Barker. At first he wasn't bad, He wasn't exactly the picture of a perfect stepfather but he helped Mom pay the bills and picked me up from school sometimes when Mom was running late. Then my mom died in a car wreck three years ago he changed. He would be gone for days at a time then come stumbling through the door so drunk it was amazing that he was still upright. In fact, the very first time he hit me was when he was drunk. He always seemed to be drunk, and working at a bar gave him almost unlimited access to all the booze he wanted. Ever sense then, I've become like his personal punching bag. He would always find the smallest excuse, the slightest error just so he could hit me again. It was astonishing that I've been able to hide the bruises and scars for so long.

That's why I read so much, to escape the world around me. Granted, the Maximum Ride books weren't exactly the perfect choice if you wanted to escape violence. But that may be the reason why I love them so much; to live in a world where everyone is literally out for your blood but still have the courage to face them anyway sounds almost too good to be true. But I'd give anything to have that courage.

"R.J, get your useless hide down here now!" my stephorror yells, I can just see his face turn an awful putrid color as he hollers at me from the bottom of the stairs. I sigh as I lay Nevermore gently down on my worn bedspread. Todd has a gift for yelling at me just as I get to the good parts of books. I had just gotten to the part where Fang stumbles, literally, back into the flocks lives. I can't help but feel sorry for Dylan as Max abandons him for Fang. Dylan was such a sweetheart, so it hurts to see such a good guy treated like that, like second best. "Girl, don't make me tell you twice!" Todd roars, the image of a severely piffed off blubbering walrus come to mind.

Yet again I sigh as I walk out of my small bedroom to the stairs. As I descend the stairs absentmindedly, I can't help but think that I'd be a better match for Dylan than Max. I wouldn't treat him like that were I lucky enough to have him. And it's as those thoughts go through my head that I slip, causing my body to tumble forward in a free fall. I'm so surprised that I can't even muster up a scream. The only thing I can do is close my eyes and hope that I won't break anything to vital, like my neck for instance. Just before I hit the floor, I wonder if this is what it feels like to fly.

Only I never hit the floor. Instead, my body just keeps falling. A fall that should have ended in three seconds drags on to five, six seven seconds long. I open my eyes in shock. There are no words to describe the amount of surprise and terror that rips trough me as I realize that I'm falling through thin air to the quickly approaching and totally misplaced shore of an ocean. And for the second time in what seems like an eternity, I feel like I'm soaring. As I come within feet of the ground, something catches me. Pulling me up to a stop and then raising again into the air. Needless to say, I'm dumbfounded. By now I should be splattered on the seashore, but instead I'm suspended in air by something. No, someone. I feel arms around my waist securing me to an unmistakably male chest and keeping me from falling. Feeling as though I'm in a dream, I turn my head to look at my savior only to find the most beautiful man I've ever seen in my sixteen years of life holding me up. With his dirty blond hair, wings a few shades darker, and eyes as blue as the sea beneath us, he looked like my own personal angel sent to rescue me.

He flies quickly back down and lightly sets me on my feet as he lands with more grace than anyone has a right to. He's even more breathtakingly beautiful than I first thought. This can't be real, I thought, I must be dreaming. Or maybe I hit my head when I fell. There is no way this can be real. He interrupts my inner monologue with words that end up changing my life forever.

"Hi, my name's Dylan. What's yours?"

**So what do you think? Love it, hate it? Think I should continue? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

I gawked at him, trying to comprehend what he just said. Such simple words, yet they made absolutely no sense. My body was still high on the adrenalin coursing through my veins from the falls. My mind was in a disorganized tangle of fear, exhilaration, and nerves from standing in front of what seemed to be Zeus's younger, better looking brother in my Winnie the Pooh PJs. I look toward my Eeyore slippers in embarrassment but instead I find dark brown combat boots. I've never owned combat boots in my entire life so you can probably imagine my surprise to suddenly have them on my feet. Then I notice the rest of my outfit, instead of my faded Pooh Bear sweatpants and Piglet sleep shirt I'm wearing khaki shorts and a dark green tank top. I panic for a split second at my attire; even though I live in one of the hottest states in the south, I never wear shorts or tee-shirts because they show the bruises and scars left by Todd. But as I took closer at my skin I see that there are no markings of any kind on them. Not even the collection of freckle on my left arm that looks exactly like the star constellation, Orion. In fact, the only other color marking my skin is a band like tattoo that wrapped around the bicep of my left arm. My newly perfected skin has an olive tone to it that is so different from my usual sickly pale. I examine the rest of my body closely. The hair around my face is a dark and rich shade of brown, long, and curly; the exact opposite of my white blonde, pin straight bob cut. But I also notice even more drastic changes. My body is taller and leaner, with more muscle than I've ever had. Even though I know that my plain black glasses aren't on my face, my vision has never been so clear. I can see every detail of bark on the trees one hundred yards from me. I can see the tiny bugs crawling all over them with perfect clarity. I can hear the wind blowing gently through the leaves. My body feels lighter than a feather. That is, except for the unfamiliar, yet strangely not uncomfortable, weight in between my shoulder blades. The only thing I could think of was my school backpack, but I saw no straps on my now tan shoulders. Curiously, I reach behind me to touch my back and what I find stops my heart. I look behind me just to make sure my fingers aren't deceiving me. They aren't.

On my back, blending effortlessly from skin to feather, were two dusty golden wings. In a daze, I flex the unfamiliar appendages. They snap open, fifteen feet of absolutely awe-inspiring raw power and beauty.

The sudden movement of my unfurling wings upset something else in the corner of my eye and I am reminded of my audience. Pulling my wings slowly to my body so I won't startle the angle further, I tuck the loosely against my back again. I can't help but marvel at the feeling of the feathers brushing the skin of my partly bare back. Shaking my head slightly, I turn my attention back to the angel named Dylan. He still was looking at me expectantly. I raise my eyebrows at him in challenge, "What?" I ask with an easy confidence the old me never had. The old me would never challenge anyone in any way, she never had the courage. Wait, courage? Wasn't that what I was wishing for just before the fall, to have courage like the maximum ride characters? Maximum Ride! That's it! I must have been somehow transported into the books! I read ahead, so I know that the flock ends up on an island. But before I can compare the island that I am on to the one described in the book Dylan's voice, The Dylan's voice, forces my attention to him once again.

"I said 'Who are you?" Amusement laced clearly through his silken voice. Oh yah, now I remember, but that wasn't easy question to answer. Rosalynn Johanna was the name that my mother had given me at birth but for as long as I can remember; she always called me Rosie Josie. But Rosie Josie died along with her in that crash. Everyone else just called me R.J, a nickname that Todd made up. Because of that, I always hated it. But I never had the courage to correct anyone when they called me that. There's that word again. But now I do have that courage. I'm no longer underneath Todd's thumb; he can no longer control me. And something deep in my bones tells me that he never will be able to ever again. I'm never going back to that little town full of misery and sorrow. This is where I belong, here in the wild with its untamed magnificence; alongside its inhabitance, my kinsmen. No one will ever control me again. I am free. So I will name myself.

As I tell Dylan my name, I feel lightness deep in my heart. The same lightness I felt when Dylan soared through the air. And as I tell him my name, I shake of the shackles off my old life forever.

_"Roz, my name is Roz."_


End file.
